Steel Soul Online

The year is 2045, 10 years ago the first VR capsule was released in the market, crushing thoroughly the traditional consoles and creating a new boon in technology, beginning a new era of inventions where the big and small companies fight to develop the existing technology even further and gain more money. The VR systems were used not only in games, but many people also used this in architecture, martial dojos, military training, prototype testing, movies, even a new social network was born.

Over the years this technology was perfected, the games were more realistic and almost every new title was bigger than his predecessor, and Steel Soul Online was not an exception, it is the most ambitious game ever created by TriDa Games, the company that invented the VR capsules back in 2035, fusing magic and future settings organically in one game; the closed beta of the game and the open beta raised the bar even higher than it was.

This is the story of David, a 35 years old lawyer specialized in civil law working in an office owned by a teacher from his college, he was neither tall or short, handsome nor ugly, just an average guy with light brown hair and a shaved beard, he was a casual player that enjoyed mechs and fighting games and owned a VR capsule, it wasn't the last in the market that makes you feel like you're the protagonist of a Japanese isekai but a cheaper one released 4 years ago, even then, he was happy with just that.

On that fateful night, David got off work a little later than usual because he was reviewing some older cases, it helped him think of a new approach when he was in a tough spot in a case and he needed a new perspective.

"Goodnight Mr. Torres," said Patricia, his secretary. "please don't use the highway, there's a traffic jam there"

"Goodnight Patty, thank you for the advice" replied the man while stretching his arms and neck. "Your boyfriend comes to pick you up? if not, i can take you to home".

"Don't worry...he'll come in a couple of minutes, thank you for the offer anyways" the girl smiled and took two helmets from the lockers behind the counter.

"Just don't get too late tomorrow ok? I'd hate to nag you about the unmistakable smell of cheap hotel soap" he took the black helmet and left the white one on the desk. "leave the white one, I'll go straight home tonight"

"Ok! and don't worry about that, we'll wait until marriage for those things!" the girl knew he was just joking so she didn't take it at heart.

"Ok ok, my bad fine young woman, see you tomorrow" both chuckled a little and he left the building but turned back before the door closed and left a briefcase on the desk. "put this with the helmet please, almost forgot it", he waved at her and went to the parking lot shortly after.

He got on his bike and started it with the pedal, it was a customized black chopper bike he got in his 30 birthday and since then he uses it to travel everywhere.

In a couple of minutes, he left "la Alpujarra" and took a secondary route to go to his home in Envigado, he heard the faint noise of the honking cars on the highway and thanked Patricia in his heart, she saved him a couple of high-stress hours.

"Well...it's still early tho, i might get home just in time to watch the Livestream of the launch of SSO" he mumbled to himself when he stopped by a red traffic light. "Maybe i should take tomorrow off to play all night...it's still a couple of weeks before the trial so it shouldn't be a problem if i took just one day..."

When the light switched to green he started his bike again and before he passed the junction completely his brain just blanked, he didn't know what happened but there was a high pitch noise in his ears and he couldn't feel his body at all.

"Multiple fractures in both legs, an arm, and 2 ribs got broken, luckily his lungs weren't perforated by the shards and his internal wounds aren't life-threatening" the doctor informed to Andrew, David's brother. "We'll keep him sedated for a while until he can withstand the pain to initiate rehabilitation."

"Phew...i thought i was losing my brother...thank you, doctor, I'll contact the family and calm them down" answered Andrew, he was a little smaller than David despite being 2 years older and his hair is black. "What happened to the other driver?"

"He fell asleep while driving because he took some flu pills that make you sleepy, he's fine, just a little surprised and scared".

"Sigh...i know it isn't his fault but...damn i wanna strangle him right now..." Andrew gritted his teeth and the doctor sighed when he saw it.

"Easy there, it was an accident"

"I know...that's why i said 'it's not his fault'... I'm just angry, my brother it's in that state because of him..." Andrew sighed and took his phone from his pocket and send a voice note to the family chat explaining the situation to them; sadly their parents were in Germany so they couldn't arrive to make him a little company in this hard time, at least for the time being.

"Well, i got some good news, the hospital got new VR capsules and we use them in comatose patients mostly, if we have your approval we'll transfer your brother to one of them".

"Yeah...that would make him happy" Andrew smiled a little and left with the doctor to sign some agreements.

"Where...am i?"

David woke up in an endless grassland, there were flowers of various colors and little animals like bunnies, birds, and some that he didn't recognize; he pinched himself and realized he wasn't asleep, a bunny jumped on his l.a.p and he petted it, it felt like a real one...

"Maybe i died..."

He heard a burst of soft laughter coming from behind him, he stood up with the little bunny in his arm and faced the unknown figure, it was a boy of maybe 13 years old with white hair and white robes, and a little red cross hanged on his chess.

"You haven't died David Torres, you're just unconscious," said the boy, his voice was like that of a child, creating the impression that he was younger. "My name is Alex! I'm the AI of the capsule you're using right now".

"Unconscious? Capsule? What?" David frowned and let go of the bunny in his hands, he didn't remember much of what happened that night. "Can you explain what's going on?"

"Understood~!" the little boy nodded and a little screen appeared in front of David showing the representation of a human body with all the wounds that he received in the accident, "you were involved in an accident, your motorcycle got hit by a car and you're in a coma right now, but don't worry! it's temporary and the wounds are not life-threatening, and it was merely an accident so you don't have to worry that the insurance doesn't cover the damages".

"So...about the capsule..."

"Yeah! you're currently in the last model available for public, while you're in the coma you'll stay here and you'll receive notifications when the doctors need to change bandages or something that may arise, so you don't have to worry and enjoy your time here!" the boy sat on a little cloud that appeared behind him and floated slowly from up to down.

"Here, here?"

"No, that would be silly, you can request games to be installed in the capsule, even Steel Soul Online!"

"Huh...that will be interesting...wait, do my brother knows I'm here? my family knows I'm in this capsule?"

"Yes! he was the one that signed all the bureaucracy to let you stay here, wait a moment please" said the little boy while making strange motions with his hands, then a little screen popped up in front of David where he can see his brother, he was watching the screen visibly relieved.

"Heyyo Nanobot," said the older brother with a little smirk on his face "Too bad you didn't die, i was planning to take over the house"

"I will not die so soon, Whale" David showed him his middle finger and both laughed heartily.

"I'm glad you're ok bro, my heart nearly stopped when i received a call in the middle in the night saying that you were found on a puddle of your own blood"

"Come on, don't exaggerate, I'd be dead if i something like that happened" he shook his head and laughed softly "...mom and dad know I'm here?"

"Yeah, it was hard to calm them down, they almost boarded the next plane to Colombia" David felt his heart a little warm when he heard that.

"Hey, i can play SSO here, so why don't you go home now that you know that I'll survive so we can play" Andrew saw the hour and nodded.

"Yeah, the game was launched hours ago, i have time so I'll go home then, maybe at night I'll visit you again here to check you up"

"Fine, see ya in SSO"

"Goodnight Nanobot" Andrew showed him the middle finger to the screen.

"Goodnight Whale" David did the same thing and the call ended.

"But it's 8 am, so it should be good morning instead," Alex said and David just chuckled and patted his head.

"I know boy, just start the game please"

"Understood~!"

Everything disappeared and was replaced by darkness, then Alex appeared in front of him again, he was smiling at him and was still sitting on that little cloud.

"Welcome to Steel Soul Online! I'll be your AI assistant in the game too so feel free to ask me anything!" his surroundings were replaced by a starry sky and in front of him appeared 3 little orbs that looked like planets, "every planet is made for different type of players, the first one is for players focused on magic, the second for players focused on technology, but each one have a little of the other system, and the third one is a chaotic zone with both systems 'harmoniously cohabitating' for more hardcore players, you can choose one of them and begin your adventure!"

"Hmmm...the first and second one sounds very standard...but meh, I have all the time in the world to enjoy myself so why not? I'll choose the third one please"

"Understood~" the first and second orbs disappeared and the third one grew larger, there were hurricanes, storms, even he can see some isles moving and almost everything was covered by snow...very few places show signs of settlements made for human habitation, "now you can choose one of the basic magic affinities and one of the basic technological affinities, or let a roulette choose for you!"

"huh?" he was a little startled, "affinities?"

"Yes! affinities here are the talent in a specific area, see it as an innate bonus for every new player, the roulette has very rare ones but the basics like fire, water, electricity, marksmanship, blacksmithing, and others like that are much more common than those ones, obviously."

"hmmm...then spin the roulette i guess" he shrugged and the little boy nodded before showing 2 roulettes with a LOT of colors in there, every color representing a different affinity.

"I hope you enjoy your experience! just call for me and I'll appear immediately!" the boy disappeared and the roulettes started spinning before stopping 15 seconds later he heard a cheering crowd and confetti got shot from the darkness.

[CONGRATULATIONS! YOU WON THE "SOUL" MAGIC AFFINITY].

[CONGRATULATIONS! YOU WON THE "MECHANICAL ENGINEERING" TECHNOLOGICAL AFFINITY].

[ENJOY YOUR EXPERIENCE IN NIFLHEIM].

[IF YOU FIND A BUG OR AN EXPLOIT, PLEASE REPORT IT]

He just appeared in the middle of nowhere, no character creation, no nickname, even without a body, he was a small ball of light blue fire with black beady eyes that floated over this large frozen wasteland completely unaffected by the chilling winds.

"---"

He couldn't speak or do something different from float or see the world around him, he tried to summon Alex with his mind and he appeared before him unfazed by the freezing temperature like him.

"Hi David~" the boy waved his hand at him and smiled "I forgot to say to you that special affinities often came with special secondary effects, as you can see, you're currently a bodyless soul! i recommend you to "call" your status screen! I'll explain everything you don't understand, but I'll warn you, this is gonna be an info dump!".

The boy sat on the snow and David was left speechless for a moment, he sighed and just accepted it, he had to go through this cliché if he wanted to understand what was going on, it left a bad aftertaste in his nonexistent mouth.

-Status!- he thought and a screen appeared in front of him.

---

[Name: ???]

[Level: 1 (83 XP left to lv2)]

[Race: Ghost]

[Life points: ∞]

[Mana points: 10]

[Attack: N/A]

[Defense: ∞]

[Dextery: N/A]

[Agility: N/A]

[Inteligence: N/A]

[Spiritual Force: 20]

[Abilities](^)

- Possession (Lv 1)

- Soul devour (Lv 1)

- Weak mind blade (Lv 1)

- Weak Telepathy (Lv 1)

- Appreciation (Lv 1)

[Affinities] (^)

- Soul Magic affinity

- Mechanical engineering affinity

---

-Huh?... these stats are very weird, to say the least, infinite health and infinite defense but no attack power whatsoever...- he was silently contemplated about the pros and cons about this setting and he almost forgot the existence of Alex, he looked at him and the boy waved in response. -Why are my stats like this? they're pretty unorthodox for an RPG-.

"Because you're a Ghost! you see...when you have a special affinity and live in an environment that 'boost' that affinity there's a chance to be allowed to change your race, those are the 'special secondary effects', you spawned here so it was pretty much set in stone that you'll be a ghost". The boy summoned a little cloud and sat there, then he started 'orbiting' him. "Ghosts don't have a physical body so they're immune towards almost every type of damage except mind, soul attacks and soul bound weapons, but that means that they don't have an attack, agility, intelligence or dexterity stat, and their spiritual force is their 'life points'."

-I understand it's very 'logic', but why i don't have intelligence? isn't that stat used to measure mana points?- he was a little concerned about this point because if he doesn't have that stat, how will he get more mana points?

"You get intelligence, and the other stats too, by possessing bodies~" The boy stopped floating and made strange gestures with his hands and a little screen appeared in front of David, there a ball of flame entered a dead rabbit that left jumping the scene after that. "When you possess a body you gain the stats of said body, it could be an organic or artificial being, even living beings with weaker spiritual force than yours can be possessed".

-Hmmm...it works for me- he shrugged his nonexistent shoulders -and 2 last questions: what happens if i encounter another ghost and why are you answering all my questions? isn't it against the rules or something like that to say this much information to me?-

"A Ghost can eat another ghost, that's how you level up and gain spiritual force apart from doing missions!" The boy jumped off the cloud and it disappeared when he touched the ground. "And you're 'special', the VR capsules for hospitals and rehabilitation centers often use AI to guide the patients in the early stages of the games they play or fully guide them through other things, like social media or learning platforms".

-Thank you for the help, Alex- he 'bowed' towards the little boy which only laughed at this gesture

"No need~ it's my job after all" he smiled at David "any more questions?"

-No, thank you, again- The status screen disappeared and the boy waved at him before he disappeared too.

He wandered for a couple of minutes until he saw a forest in the distance, but before he reached it a deer covered in blood left the forest being chased by what appeared to be a wolf.

The deer had crystal antlers and all his body was white, even his eyes, except for the wounds in its stomach and neck that tainted its fur, the wolf was pure white too but had eerie blue eyes and had parts of his skin missing, even the bones of its ribcage were visible and a pale blue light could be seen coming from the 'holes'.

In a swift motion the wolf slashed its claws and a blue blade shot towards the deer, it didn't cut his skin but passed directly through it and vanished when it touched the snow, the animal lost the focus on its eyes and dropped dead.

-Well...that was pretty shocking, i hope TriDa has a parental switch because this can cause nightmares for children and nightmares for their legal team if not- He sighed and remained where he was watching the wolf, who noticed his presence.

The animal opened its mouth towards him like he was inhaling something, and it was, David felt a strange force pulling him and before he could process the situation he was swallowed up by the wolf.

[YOU DIED]

[THERE IS NO PENALTY FOR DYING BEFORE LV 5]

[YOU'LL RESPAWN IN A RANDOM AREA IN 5 SECONDS]

-...- He was speechless and confused about what happened and how he ended up dying, he thought about it for a second and remembered something in his status screen.

-Skills!-

[Abilities]:

- Possession (Lv 1):

The user can possess a body, puppet, golem or mecha if its ownerless or if the user has a stronger spiritual force than its owner

- Soul devour (Lv 1):

The user can 'swallow' a soul or a ghost to gain a permanent boost to his/her spiritual force, it's the only way to level up for ghosts

- Weak mind blade (Lv 1):

The user can conjure an attack that it's aimed towards the mind of the target, it doesn't affect hp and only spiritual force is affected

- Weak Telepathy (Lv 1):

The user can connect a mind bridge between him/her and the objective, it's the only way a ghost can use to communicate apart from possessing a body

- Appreciation (Lv 1):

The user can 'appreciate' things and obtain information about that thing, the amount of information obtained depends on the ability level

-So that's how it is...the wolf was possessed by a ghost and it swallowed me up, what an interesting experience- he sighed and smiled for himself before observing his surroundings.

He was in the ruins of a city, everything was covered in snow and he could see some skeletons here and there, there were more preserved corpses and bodies with missing parts.

-So this is why i became a ghost, this environment is filled with death and decay and only their resented souls remain in this world...that sounded a bit cringy, I'll never do that again- he sighed and decided it's best if he could possess a body to be more comfortable.

-That one will do- he said to himself while approaching the half-buried body of a middle-aged man, it was the most complete corpse he saw but his head was cut off and was a couple of meters away. -Well...being a dullahan doesn't sound that bad, at least i can scare my brother when i encounter him-, he chuckled a little before touching the corpse with his flames

-Possession!-